Friendly Nettle
Friendly Nettle is a community site for crafters of all sorts offering free project ideas, patterns for knitting, sewing and crocheting.
A trip to Beaulieu sounds a little bit like a trip to Bel Air (from Fresh Prince). Except this British seaside town looks completely different and is much more beautiful than the tropical beach (at least in my opinion).
I had an amazing opportunity to visit Beaulieu during this long Easter weekend. Did you know that the wild ponies run around free there? Sounds magical already, doesn’t it?
Ok, ok, maybe I wish it was warmer there, but still worth the visit ;-)
Have a lovely week ;-)
Rasa
“Unseen Lithuania” book by Marius Jovaiša claims that Lithuanian fog is most beautiful in the world! Although this sounds a bit too confident to say, I did like it when me and Joni were visiting Lithuania last weekend. It sort of made everything misty and fairy taley :-). Especially Trakai Castle that were situated in the middle of the lake!
Enjoy your week!
Rasa :-)
Visiting Eden Project in winter is great (especially when my boyfriend organised it)! When you feeling chilly and summer holidays seems so far away this is a perfect place to hang out :-). To visit Eden Project has been my dream for so many years! I was quite amazed by the structure of Biomes. Although it is warm enough in the Rain Forest Biome, we are hoping to visit it in summer when the plants outside are in full bloom. Hopefully you will enjoy this quick Eden Project tour and the pics will speak for themselves :-).
Happy Wednesday!
Rasa xoxo
Me, my mum (who is visiting me) and Vickie had a such a great time in Petersham Nurseries today. It is soooo beautiful there! Don’t you think this place would be perfect for a wedding?
The cakes we delicious too! My favourite was a lavender, rose water and almond cake…. yum :b
We definitely recommend Petersham Nurseries to anyone who loves vintage country style, you would definitely enjoy this;). It’s in Richmond (forgot to tell)! It has a cute shop as well where you can buy not only pretty stuff for home, but also the gardening accessories. I bought some gardening twine in pretty colours thinking to knit a rug or something… will let you know!
Having a really busy weekend. A dear friend’s, Lola’s wedding tomorrow! Looking forward to that :). What are you up to for the weekend?
Rasa xox
And this is how our journey to Richmond started. Alex planned the route, I packed the lunch and sky … well.. it delivered sun!!
Luckily Alex is an expert on picking scenic cycling routs so most of our trip took place around the rivers and canals. I love the river around my neighbourhood ♥. For more reads about River Lea go here.
While I was cycling I noticed that lots of Elderflower trees turned to Elderberries. I did a little research and found out that you can make jelly, cordial or even liqueur with it ;)
Such a quick scenery change as we went along! I loved riverside cafes and even cafe-boats!
At the Limehouse we had to leave the river, but not for good…
Passed the central London of course ;)
Lunch at Chelsea Park: bacon tart, elderflower and poppyseed cake and rye bread sandwiches that were really yummy. I will share the recipe some time soon ;)
So after ups and downs (my bike tire went flat that got luckily fixed), we get reunited with our friend Vicki! YAY!!
We can’t get enough of the riverside as more walks by the river continues…
But the time to say goodbyes is always round the corner, but not for good!
Thanks to Vicki for making our trip memorable.
Rasa :)
As you have guessed we are cycling across London to Richmond to visit our friend Vicki! Although this wasn’t my idea I am looking forward to this challenge…. after all I haven’t cycled for a while ;)
How are you spending your weekend?
Rasa xox
I don’t know about you, but every time I am up and about I really like to have some sort of craft in my hand. However, a knitting is often not an option to take on the flight (due to security restrictions of course!). Thankfully the crochet hook is allowed, therefore I had a chance to finally finish my crocheted collar project if you remember from the past.
Try it for yourself, the pattern with the instructions are listed here!
Rasa :)
Remember “Tartine Bread” book I was telling you about? Well I visited their bakery while I was in San Francisco! Thats was quite an experience as I had to queue up since it turns out to be really papular cafe in the Mission neighbourhood :)
It was really difficult to make the decision with all the variety of tarts and cakes and pastries….
Eventually I went with the lemon cream tart which was really really yum! I just can’t get used to to drink my latte in the bowl :O
And hot pressed sandwich (sourdough bread with mozzarella and tapenade) for a lunch in the Dolores park? Perfect! With marinated carrots? interesting!
I wish you were there ;)
Rasa xox
My holidays in San Francisco is coming to an end and I am excited to tell you that I have met some interesting people that I hope to keep in touch ;)
I find it difficult to describe this city in one sentience as it is so diverse and multi cultured in more defined ways to compare to London. Every part of it looks almost like a different country (literally). However here I picked my favourite point of view…
As you already know, I love nature and San Francisco greenery is no exception! I have never quite experienced a Beach in the City :D
I love how succulents and cacti just grow wild outdoors! In London I am limited to Aloe and other similar type of plants indoors.
I discovered another cute plant! It’s a Tillandsia, otherwise called air plant. It can be used to make those tiny (or large) terrariums as it needs no soil to grow in, just an occasional mist. I am so making one sometime soon!
I have visited some pretty vintage shops, cafes and bookshops, most of them in the Mission District, my favourite area in San Francisco so far.
Today I have tried pear and goat cheese tart! I love trying interesting flavour combinations! If you do too, try Berry Crumble Cheesecake (with goat cheese).
My ice-cream tasting went to another level! I tried basil, honey&lavender, balsamic strawberry, plum, fig&amaretto, brown sugar banana, roasted corn, peanut chip, cardamom and finally a cranberry muesli. I can’t wait until I make my own! For now try my very spontaneous ice-cream ;)
And finally, what I love most is to escape to the beach (just 30min away from the city by bus)….
Rasa xo
Guess what! I am off to San Francisco just in next hour… going alone and don’t know anybody out there, hopefully I will make some new friends ;)
Just few months ago I have been given opportunity to pick any place on the world (I mean any) and with no research done I picked San Francisco! Why? Well, thats because I have this book (completely in love with it!)”Tartine Bread” by Chad Robertson and knowing it is from San Francisco I got inspired to sometime visit there, because I really really loved the pictures with lots and lots of country side and some urban lifestyle!… And much later I discovered that this is not quite true, San Francisco is actually a city! Lesson learned not to pick flights when research is not done!
But, hey, I will make best out of this! I am actually looking forward to the adventure that awaits me! While I am there I promise to try something that I have never done and travel like I am the local there! Will keep you posted :)
Rasa xo
While we were visiting Cromford, a small town in Peak District, we came across little art gallery by a river cannel. I liked a lot of the paintings there, most of them reflecting Peak District scenery, however I mostly got inspired by J.Margaret Oakes’s photo collage that I tried out today with my own photos that I took at Peak District. Here are the instructions if you would like to have a go ;)
Have fun!
Rasa xo
So there we are, sitting on the top of the “peak” at the Peak District (otherwise called Black Rock) adoring the view we have around us. I can really say we really had the most amazing weekend! We took so many pictures and I think if we counted them all it might be close to a 500 or even 600 snap shots. So you can only imagine how difficult it was for me to narrow down and only show these besties!
And guess what! While we were there we even “casually” visited Mr Darcy’s home (Jane Austen “Pride and Pejudice”).
I so recommend to visit Peak District if you have not done that yet.
Have a lovely week!
Rasa :)
Hey, we are off to Peak District! How excited I am! I baked Sweet Potato And Pepper Tortilla, Onion And Bacon Tart & Elderflower And Poppyseed Cake (I am still obsessed with Elderflour) for our 4hour road trip. I am ready to go ;) I will share the recipes for these and pics from Peak District as soon as I come back!
Have a lovelly Weekend yourself ;)
Rasa xo
Last Sunday was quite spontaneous for me. In afternoon I popped in to my neighbour’s who suggested we go for a walk. What? For a walk? I know no parks around here in London where I live! However I went along and took Sarah (my new flatmate) with me. After 20min we reached a river Lea surrounded by nature and filled with cute residential boats. Such a quick scenery change!
I love how people living in the boats grow herbs and veg on their roofs. Such a dainty little garden!
And the names for the boats are super amazing!
Sarah found her own ;)
And we were so lucky as Collin, who lives in one of those boats gave us a tour on living such a lifestyle.
I love his artistic style, especially his desk that he made himself from upcycled scrap wood!
And small, but practical kitchen that seems to fit everything….
Including cookery books! Collin said he likes cooking for people and that we are invited for dinner some time soon… Thanks, Collin, for your hospitality ;-)
On the way back I collected some Elderflower, maybe I will make some cordial tomorrow…
Have you walked around your neighbourhood recently?
Rasa xo
Because of so much water around the villages, local cousine is mainly based on fish. The most popular is smoked fish (all kinds) and my favourite is fish soup ;-b
Sandy Dunes are other cool things to visit!
My summer read is Anna Karenina! I like to read the book before watching the movie :)
Not forgetting to knit of course! Vickie’s mum showed me how to knit lace. I wonder where shall I use my new still? New summery slippers or a jumper? I will let you know once I decide!
